Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 70[a]
Prayer for Divine Help
1 For the leader; of David. For remembrance.
2 Graciously rescue me, God!(A)
Come quickly to help me, Lord!(B)
3 Let those who seek my life
be confused and put to shame.(C)
Let those who desire my ruin
turn back in disgrace.
4 Let those who say “Aha!”(D)
turn back in their shame.
5 But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you,
Those who long for your help
always say, “God be glorified!”(E)
6 I am miserable and poor.
God, come to me quickly!
You are my help and deliverer.
Lord, do not delay!
Psalm 71[b]
Prayer in Time of Old Age
I
1 In you, Lord, I take refuge;(F)
let me never be put to shame.(G)
2 In your justice rescue and deliver me;
listen to me and save me!
3 Be my rock of refuge,
my stronghold to give me safety;
for you are my rock and fortress.(H)
4 My God, rescue me from the hand of the wicked,
from the clutches of the evil and violent.(I)
5 You are my hope, Lord;
my trust, God, from my youth.
6 On you I have depended since birth;
from my mother’s womb you are my strength;(J)
my hope in you never wavers.
7 [c]I have become a portent to many,
but you are my strong refuge!
8 My mouth shall be filled with your praise,
shall sing your glory every day.
II
9 Do not cast me aside in my old age;
as my strength fails, do not forsake me.
10 For my enemies speak against me;
they watch and plot against me.(K)
11 They say, “God has abandoned him.
Pursue, and seize him!
No one will come to the rescue!”
12 God, be not far from me;
my God, hasten to help me.(L)
13 Bring to a shameful end
those who attack me;
Cover with contempt and scorn
those who seek my ruin.(M)
14 I will always hope in you
and add to all your praise.
15 My mouth shall proclaim your just deeds,
day after day your acts of deliverance,
though I cannot number them all.(N)
16 I will speak of the mighty works of the Lord;
O God, I will tell of your singular justice.
III
17 God, you have taught me from my youth;
to this day I proclaim your wondrous deeds.
18 Now that I am old and gray,(O)
do not forsake me, God,
That I may proclaim your might
to all generations yet to come,(P)
Your power 19 and justice, God,
to the highest heaven.
You have done great things;(Q)
O God, who is your equal?(R)
20 Whatever bitter afflictions you sent me,
you would turn and revive me.
From the watery depths of the earth
once more raise me up.
21 Restore my honor;
turn and comfort me,
22 That I may praise you with the lyre
for your faithfulness, my God,
And sing to you with the harp,
O Holy One of Israel!
23 My lips will shout for joy as I sing your praise;
my soul, too, which you have redeemed.
24 Yes, my tongue shall recount
your justice day by day.
For those who sought my ruin
have been shamed and disgraced.
Psalm 74[a]
Prayer at the Destruction of the Temple
1 A maskil of Asaph.
I
Why, God, have you cast us off forever?[b](A)
Why does your anger burn against the sheep of your pasture?(B)
2 Remember your people, whom you acquired of old,
the tribe you redeemed as your own heritage,
Mount Zion where you dwell.(C)
3 Direct your steps toward the utter destruction,
everything the enemy laid waste in the sanctuary.
4 Your foes roared triumphantly in the place of your assembly;
they set up their own tokens of victory.
5 They hacked away like a forester gathering boughs,
swinging his ax in a thicket of trees.
6 They smashed all its engraved work,
struck it with ax and pick.
7 They set your sanctuary on fire,
profaned your name’s abode by razing it to the ground.(D)
8 They said in their hearts, “We will destroy them all!
Burn all the assembly-places of God in the land!”
9 [c]Even so we have seen no signs for us,
there is no prophet any more,(E)
no one among us who knows for how long.
10 How long, O God, will the enemy jeer?(F)
Will the enemy revile your name forever?
11 Why draw back your hand,
why hold back your right hand within your bosom?[d]
II
12 [e]Yet you, God, are my king from of old,
winning victories throughout the earth.
13 You stirred up the sea by your might;(G)
you smashed the heads of the dragons on the waters.(H)
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan,(I)
gave him as food to the sharks.
15 You opened up springs and torrents,
brought dry land out of the primeval waters.[f]
16 Yours the day and yours the night too;
you set the moon and sun in place.
17 You fixed all the limits of the earth;
summer and winter you made.(J)
18 Remember how the enemy has jeered, Lord,
how a foolish people has reviled your name.
19 Do not surrender to wild animals those who praise you;
do not forget forever the life of your afflicted.
20 Look to your covenant,
for the recesses of the land
are full of the haunts of violence.
21 Let not the oppressed turn back in shame;
may the poor and needy praise your name.
22 Arise, God, defend your cause;
remember the constant jeering of the fools.
23 Do not forget the clamor of your foes,
the unceasing uproar of your enemies.
27 For the worship of infamous idols
is the reason and source and extreme of all evil.(A)
28 For they either go mad with enjoyment, or prophesy lies,
or live lawlessly or lightly perjure themselves.(B)
29 For as their trust is in lifeless idols,
they expect no harm when they have sworn falsely.
30 But on both counts justice shall overtake them:
because they thought perversely of God by devoting themselves to idols,(C)
and because they deliberately swore false oaths, despising piety.[a]
31 For it is not the might of those by whom they swear,
but the just retribution of sinners,
that ever follows upon the transgression of the wicked.[b]
Chapter 15
1 [c]But you, our God, are good and true,
slow to anger, and governing all with mercy.(D)
2 For even if we sin, we are yours, and know your might;
but we will not sin, knowing that we belong to you.(E)
3 For to know you well is complete righteousness,
and to know your might is the root of immortality.(F)
Chapter 14
To Live and Die for Christ. 1 [a]Welcome anyone who is weak in faith,(A) but not for disputes over opinions.(B) 2 One person believes that one may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables.(C) 3 The one who eats must not despise the one who abstains, and the one who abstains must not pass judgment on the one who eats; for God has welcomed him.(D) 4 Who are you to pass judgment on someone else’s servant? Before his own master he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.(E) 5 [For] one person considers one day more important than another, while another person considers all days alike.(F) Let everyone be fully persuaded in his own mind.[b] 6 Whoever observes the day, observes it for the Lord. Also whoever eats, eats for the Lord, since he gives thanks to God; while whoever abstains, abstains for the Lord and gives thanks to God. 7 None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself. 8 For if we live, we live for the Lord,[c] and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.(G) 9 For this is why Christ died and came to life, that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.(H) 10 Why then do you judge your brother? Or you, why do you look down on your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of God;(I) 11 for it is written:
“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bend before me,
and every tongue shall give praise to God.”(J)
12 So [then] each of us shall give an account of himself [to God].(K)
26 Then they sailed to the territory of the Gerasenes,[a] which is opposite Galilee. 27 When he came ashore a man from the town who was possessed by demons met him. For a long time he had not worn clothes; he did not live in a house, but lived among the tombs. 28 (A)When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him; in a loud voice he shouted, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me!” 29 For he had ordered the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (It had taken hold of him many times, and he used to be bound with chains and shackles as a restraint, but he would break his bonds and be driven by the demon into deserted places.) 30 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”[b] He replied, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him. 31 And they pleaded with him not to order them to depart to the abyss.[c]
32 A herd of many swine was feeding there on the hillside, and they pleaded with him to allow them to enter those swine; and he let them. 33 The demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. 34 When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran away and reported the incident in the town and throughout the countryside. 35 People came out to see what had happened and, when they approached Jesus, they discovered the man from whom the demons had come out sitting at his feet.[d] He was clothed and in his right mind, and they were seized with fear. 36 Those who witnessed it told them how the possessed man had been saved. 37 The entire population of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them because they were seized with great fear. So he got into a boat and returned. 38 The man from whom the demons had come out begged to remain with him, but he sent him away, saying, 39 “Return home and recount what God has done for you.” The man went off and proclaimed throughout the whole town what Jesus had done for him.
Jairus’s Daughter and the Woman with a Hemorrhage.[e]
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.